Atlanta Braves' Chris Sale Goes Viral For Awesome Tribute to Luis Tiant

Pitching against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway South on Saturday, the former Sox ace delivered a great tribute to Tiant, who passed away in October of 2024.

Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale (51) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Minnesota Twins during spring training at CoolToday Park on March 4. | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images

Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale is going viral on Saturday for his amazing tribute to former Sox star Luis Tiant, who passed away just after the 2024 regular season ended.

Sale, who now pitches for the Atlanta Braves, delivered his first pitch of the game in trademark Tiant style, with the hands over the head delivery and the twist of his body.

You can see the video below:

Chris Sale with the Luis Tiant tribute to start the game. Classy as always. pic.twitter.com/J0rpHpDgNW

— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) March 15, 2025

Tiant passed away at the age of 83. He was a 19-year veteran of the Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates and California Angels. He won 229 games in his career, pitching to a 3.30 ERA. He won double-digit games in 13 different seasons and won 20 games or more in four separate seasons. He was a three-time All-Star.

Lifetime, Sale is 138-83 with a 3.04 ERA over his 14-year career. He debuted with the White Sox in the 2010 season, staying there until 2016. He was traded to the Red Sox in 2017, helping them win the World Series in 2018 and get to the ALCS in 2021, though he only made nine starts that year. Clearly, he developed an appreciation for Tiant and Red Sox history.

Sale has dealt with frequent injury since 2019 and was traded to the Braves last offseason. All he did was put together the most dominant season in the National League, going 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA. He also struck out a National League-best 225 batters and made the All-Star team, in addition to winning the Cy Young.

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